Microsoft Adds MKV Support to Windows Phone

Windows Phone 8.1 recently received the GDR2 update, and among other features that came with the update, Microsoft integrated support to Matroska video files or MKV to the Video app. Users of some Lumia phones powered by Windows Phone 8.1 devices were surprised when they received the GDR2 update before upgrading to Windows 10 Technical Preview. GDR2 update brought some interesting features and improvements, and one of the improvements is support for .MKV video files.

Support of .MKV files will be integrated with the Xbox Video app, as users will be able to play .MKV files directly from the app, without having to convert them first. So if you have any .MKV movies, TV show or other kinds of video stored on your phone or external memory, Xbox Video app will display them under ‘my videos’ section and you’ll be able to play them within the app, just like any other supported video format.

Although Microsoft didn’t announce that this feature will come with GDR2 update, we’re not much surprised, because Microsoft added MKV video support to the Xbox Video app for desktop version of Windows 8.1, and we could expect the company to do the same thing with the mobile version of the app. It’s certainly good to see Microsoft expanding the list of supported video formats, because Also, Matroska video support will be integrated with Windows 10 by default.

It’s certainly good to see Microsoft expanding its list of supported video formats, because video files come in various ‘forms’ these days, and having a certain format supported could save you a lot of time, because you don’t have to convert it. If you didn’t get the GDR2 update, you can use VLC for Windows Phone as an alternative for playing .MKV video files.